Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan and several ministers will interact with global business leaders and heads of multinational companies at a Country Strategy Dialogue (CSD) on Pakistan to be held by the World Economic Forum on Wednesday (today), said the Foreign Office on Tuesday.

The Country Strategy Dialogue is the WEF’s signature platform for countries with rising economies and promising growth potential.

The dialogue will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran, who will also participate in an interactive dialogue with WEF President Børge Brende and the CEOs of leading global corporations and WEF partner companies, a Foreign Office (FO) statement said.

In subsequent sessions of the day-long CSD, global business leaders will hold discussions with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Economic Affairs Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar and Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar on wide-ranging subjects including economy, finance, investment, trade, manufacturing, digitalisation and startups, regional connectivity, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, etc.

The last segment will include a roundtable on “Energy Transition Priorities and Challenges in Pakistan”, co-led by Energy Minister Omar Ayub, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam and SAPM on Petroleum Nadeem Babar.

Moderated individually by the president, managing director and other senior officials of the WEF, each session of the CSD will enable CEOs of global corporations and multinational companies to interact directly with Pakistan’s top leadership on the “vast business and investment opportunities available in the country due to the various initiatives for economic reforms by the current government”, according to the FO press release.

This is the second CSD to be organised by the WEF for Pakistan this year. A similar event was held during Prime Minister Imran’s visit to Davos, Switzerland, for the WEF Annual Meeting in January.

“The second CSD by WEF within one year is a recognition of Pakistan’s positive economic trajectory and its commendable resilience to the myriad of challenges including the Covid pandemic,” the FO said.